Begich proposes to expand the “Do Not Call” registry to superPACs and political non-profits. Americans have registered more than 217 million phones on the “Do Not Call” list, but that only keeps commercial telemarketers at bay. The Begich bill would require political groups that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of cash to abide by the same rules that apply to telemarketers. It would also prohibit robocalls to any phone on the registry and ban telephone push-polling in general. It does not cover candidates or political parties.

More than $57 million was spent on Alaska’s 2014 Senate race, most of it by outside groups of the sort Begich is targeting in the bill. Although Begich lost to Republican Dan Sullivan, the outside money favored Begich. Some $22 million was spent on behalf of Begich, compared to about $18 million to help Sullivan.

Liz Ruskin covers Alaska issues in Washington as the network's D.C. correspondent.
She was born in Anchorage and is a West High grad. She has degrees from the University of Washington and the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia. She previously worked at the Homer News, the Anchorage Daily News and the Washington bureau of McClatchy Newspapers. She also freelanced for several years from the U.K. and Japan, in print and radio. Liz has been APRN’s Washington, D.C. correspondent since October 2013. She welcomes your news tips at lruskin (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | About Liz